Anime One Piece Concludes its Flashback on the Reverie Conference and Shifts to the Battle Between Vice Admiral Garp and Aokiji in Episode 1121.
However, Episode 1120 of One Piece has caused quite a stir in the fan community as they witnessed the debut of the character Saint Figarland Garling.
Saint Figarland Garling was previously introduced by Oda as the former king of the Holy Land God Valley and the supreme leader of the Holy Knights. These Holy Knights are referred to by Monkey D. Dragon as the top “counterbalance” to the Revolutionary Army.
Additionally, this man is rumored to be the biological father of Shanks. Garling, in his youth, bore a striking resemblance to Shanks, making this theory almost plausible. However, while Shanks has red hair, Garling’s hair is a somewhat grayish blonde, a detail revealed in One Piece Episode 1120 that took many by surprise.
Upon witnessing this, fans expressed concerns about a possible error in character design. However, given Garling’s old age, the choice of hair color is not too surprising.
Garling’s Hair Color in the New Anime Episode Shocks One Piece Fans: “I didn’t expect him to have blonde hair. I was hoping for red hair.”
“In most cases, red hair turns blonde with age, not gray. So, Garling having blonde hair doesn’t exclude the possibility of a relationship with Shanks, but it might imply even more,” another fan explained.
Some others shared their thoughts: “It’s funny how people say Toei made a mistake when we never had a proper color palette for Garling. I always thought Garling wouldn’t have red hair because his hair wasn’t shaded like Shanks’.”
The official hair color of Saint Figarland Garling in the anime has indeed shocked many. Especially those fans who believed in the speculated relationship between him and Shanks.
However, we did get a glimpse of a younger Garling in the flashback about God Valley, which may answer some of the fans’ questions.
Moreover, in the movie One Piece: Film Red, we learn that Shanks was adopted by Roger after the God Valley incident and is connected to the Figarland family. Saint Figarland Garling, being the former king of the Holy Land, raises the question: could it all just be a coincidence?
